RTD foots bill for study of northwest transit system, cities sign on

Cities and organizations in the northwest metro area are starting to sign on to a study that examines their long-term transportation needs.

The Northwest Area Mobility Study, sponsored by the Regional Transportation District, will produce an agreed-upon prioritized list of improvements in the northwest area.

That information will help RTD decide how to proceed with its FasTracks plan for the northwest communities, say RTD officials.

The city of Boulder and Boulder County signed off on a "memorandum of understanding" that outlines their roles in the study. The city of Longmont is scheduled to vote Feb. 12.

Other stakeholders in the study are Westminster, Broomfield, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Arvada and the non-profit group 36 Commuting Solutions.

The study is scheduled to begin in early March and be finished by early 2014.

RTD said it will pick up the study's $2 million cost. Some communities last year bristled at RTD's request that they each pitch in to help pay for the study.

"But because of some of the budget situations many of the communities were facing, we decided we would pay for it," RTD spokesman Scott Reed said.

Communities and residents in the northwest were already miffed that RTD was delaying portions of the northwest rail line until 2044, at least until other funding options for its construction could be nailed down.

"There was some obvious sensitivity for us to paying more money to do that study," Longmont transportation director Phil Greenwald said.

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RTD said the study results will help the agency identify other funding sources, including in the private sector, that could hasten the construction of the rail line.

The study will analyze several corridor options under the FasTracks plan. They include alignments of the Northwest Rail Line from Westminster to Longmont, the extension of the North Metro commuter-rail line to Longmont as well as the capital and operating costs of finishing the U.S. 36 Bus Rapid Transit line by 2015.

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